Longbow Finance SA Sells 41,285 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA significantly reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation by 59.8%, now owning 27,792 shares worth approximately $3.89 million.
• Oracle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annual yield of 0.82% with a dividend payout ratio of 46.08%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Oracle, with estimates varying from $185 to $315, indicating a strong interest from market experts.

Longbow Finance SA trimmed its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 59.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,792 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 41,285 shares during the quarter. Longbow Finance SA's holdings in Oracle were worth $3,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,303,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,448 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $245.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,146,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,472,494. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.60. The company has a market capitalization of $688.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $204.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.59.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Westpark Capital increased their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Oracle from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.29.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.